每次公司宣布分红, 股票分割, 配股, 要约收购或其他公司活动, 投资者要做决定——而且时间很短.
相关:企业行为数据的自动化采购
The challenge for investors is finding the information they need to make an informed decision, 哪些通常被埋在冗长的通知文件中. 进一步, this information generally flows through numerous intermediaries before it reaches investors, costing valuable time and creating the potential for errors each time humans intervene to transmit the information on to the next link in the communication chain.
最近的一次 ValueExchange的报告 found that 46% of all corporate event data is processed entirely manually as it flows from central securities depositories to custodian banks, 经纪人和基金经理.
Add to that scenario the fact that corporate event information has become more complex as investment products such as derivatives, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACS) and other structured instruments are more common. 因为发行者为公司活动增加了新的选择, 即使是一个简单的股息公告也可能是一个复杂的过程, 基于规则的挑战.
This increasing complexity is also driving up cost: The same ValueExchange report found global investors expect the cost of managing corporate events to rise 17% in the next three years. U.S.美国投资者预计涨幅会更大，约为33%. 错误成本预计也会推高成本, 而同期美国的选修课平均下降了25%左右.S.
我们见过面 蒂姆·林德, 存数据服务公司总经理, 讨论投资者如何更好地应对这一挑战.
DC:为什么企业行为变得越来越昂贵，越来越难以处理?
TL: Corporate events are not only becoming more frequent, but they are also becoming more complex. These two trends combine to make managing them more challenging as investors need to read, 解释, and fully understand the specifics of each event to decide which action will create the greatest returns. 但信息往往姗姗来迟, is presented in inconsistent formats and assessing the full impact – especially for complex investment instruments – can eat up a lot of time.
这可能会产生问题，因为发行方可能会有5天的回应时间. However, investors usually have only one or two days left by the time they receive the information.
A lot of this activity is also conducted by email or using other manual processes, 所以除了人工加工的成本, 操作风险的可能性也更大. It’s customary for the asset manager or custodian to compensate the underlying fund in the event of an error, 所以在这个操作中，错误是很昂贵的.
DC:挑战的根本原因是什么?
TL:缺乏标准化是核心问题. 再加上传播信息的复杂性.
在很多方面, the corporate action process is broken at the very beginning and the downstream workflow and reconciliation is a grand coping mechanism for how information is translated to the portfolio manager at the end of the chain. +, 你们有法律团队, 合规, finance and various other departments weighing in to create the notification documents, 再一次。, 通常是第一次. The result is often a complex set of terms that humans have to 解释 in order to take the best course of action in the interests of fund. You can structure most of the information to make it machine readable but humans remain an integral part of the workflow for many events that require a decision to be taken.
原始发行人的信息也要经过众多中介机构, 包括市场数据提供商和托管代理, 在它到达投资者之前. It’s a bit like the childhood “telephone” game w在这里 a message is passed down from one person to another: By the time the message reaches the end of the communication chain, 它可能会在不经意间被改变. It’s not unusual for one investor holding the same security with different custodians to receive different details about the same event because it flowed to them through different channels. The asset manager is forced to reconcile various translations of the same event.
DC:谁来为这个低效的过程买单呢?
TL: Pretty much everyone involved bears additional cost – and takes on additional risk. Ultimately though, it’s the investor who pays for systemic inefficiency in any investment process.
T在这里 are increased back-office and other operational costs incurred as everyone along the chain continues to use manual processes for something that really should be automated, 或者至少, 比现在自动化程度高得多.
This is not just a back-office issue: Aside from the substantial and rising costs of human involvement, 存在操作风险，因为错误可能代价高昂. 如果你错过了投标报价的截止日期, 例如, 你的投资客户可能会坚持要求你遵守投标价格, 哪一个通常是市场溢价. 事实上，ValueExchange的报告发现，17%的美国人在网上购物.S. 基金经历了损失数百万美元的错误.
DC: How can the industry better manage more frequent, complex corporate actions?
TL信息标准化至关重要, especially in terms of how central securities depositories and stock exchanges capture data from issuers and agents. 改善下游的操作风险和低效率, 我们需要关注上游，关注发行者和投资者之间的整个过程. We have seen other markets adopt standardized connectivity between issuers and market infrastructure and the benefits that accrue to investors as a result, 包括更高的准确性, 少和解, and increased velocity in the time it takes to get information into the hands of investors.
环境，社会 & 治理(ESG)和股东权利指令, regulators and activists are focusing on improving transparency between issuers and their shareholders. Effective governance – the “G” in ESG – doesn’t get nearly as much attention but good governance means that investors are aware of their rights and entitlement when it comes to any events that impact their holdings. Streamlining the dissemination of corporate actions and modernization of processes that improve transparency between companies and their investors is consistent with the fundamental principles of ESG.
在非标准的应对策略上投入了大量资金, fragmented processes but the industry is 再一次。 asking questions of how we address the root cause of issues. 现在是时候专注于从端到端改进企业行为处理了.
点击 在这里 for more information on how 存’s corporate actions services can help you improve operational efficiency and reduce errors in processing critical events.